A British karate champion will be sentenced next month for sexually assaulting a woman in Perth. Bradley James Hopper, 19, pleaded guilty in Perth District Court to two counts of sexual penetration without consent and one of indecent assault.

The offences occurred while he was on holiday in Australia in October last year. The court heard Hopper had been drinking with the woman at a pub and attacked her after offering to help her find a taxi. Defence lawyer Max Crispe said Hopper has a form of dyslexia that affects his ability to pick up social cues.

He said despite this, Hopper had excelled in karate and was part of the English world team. Chief Judge Kevin Hammond remanded Hopper in custody for sentencing.

Edited by - Kungfoolss on March 02 2003 18:24:26

Kungfoolss, Scourge of the theory-based stylists, Most Feared man at Bullshido.com, and the Preeminent Force in the martial arts political arena

A BRITISH karate champion has been jailed for raping a woman while on holiday in Australia. Bradley James Hopper, 19, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty last month to two counts of sexual penetration without consent and one count of indecent assault.

Hopper, who has an IQ of 77, had begged the West Australian District Court for leniency, claiming his dyslexia and alcohol-diminished mental state had made it hard to interpret the social cues of his 18-year-old victim. But Crown solicitor Marina Georgevic said Hopper's plea rang "a little hollow" given the woman was crying throughout the ordeal, begging him to stop. "This wasn't some subliminal social gesture," Ms Georgevic said. Hopper pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating the woman without consent. He also indecently assaulted her.

The court was told Hopper met the woman - a university student - outside a nightclub in Perth on the last day of a holiday in Australia. She was assaulted in a Perth street after Hopper agreed to walk her to a taxi. Defence lawyer Max Crispe asked Chief Judge Kevin Hammond, in sentencing, to consider Hopper's youth, his remorse, his IQ, and his sporting future as a member of the British karate team.

"I think his sporting prowess is a matter of some significance," Mr Crispe said. But Judge Hammond denied a request for a non-custodial sentence and jailed Hopper for four years. "This offending is too serious, too grave, to be dealt with in any other way than by the imposition of terms of imprisonment," Judge Hammond said. "The offender was determined to pursue his goals even though it must have been absolutely, abundantly clear to him that the complainant was resisting his attack."

Judge Hammond said he would have sentenced Hopper to six years in prison had it not been for his early guilty plea and the fact he voluntarily returned to Perth to face his trial. The woman dropped out of university and moved to the country after the attack.

Kungfoolss, Scourge of the theory-based stylists, Most Feared man at Bullshido.com, and the Preeminent Force in the martial arts political arena

A KARATE coach has told of his shock after one of his former pupils was jailed for four years for raping a teenager while on holiday.

Bradley Hopper, 19, a British karate champion, from Tendring, near Clacton, was sent to prison after pleading guilty to raping an 18-year-old in Australia. The West Australian District Court dismissed Hopper's plea for leniency after he claimed his dyslexia and “alcohol-diminished mental state” had made it difficult to interpret the social cues of his victim.

Speaking after the sentence, Hopper's former trainer Stuart Elkin said he was totally shocked about his former pupil's crime. Mr Elkin, head coach at the Clacton Shotokan Karate Club, added: “I couldn't imagine him doing that - it took me right by surprise. “He was ever so friendly during the four or five years I trained him. I couldn't say a bad word against him and I have never known him to be in any trouble of any sort.” Hopper had joined the club as a yellow belt and rose to black belt before his ability lead him to a place on the British team. He also trained for a while at the Ipswich Caribbean Karate Club.

“He stopped training with us about a year to 18 months ago when he went to train with Ticky Donovan, the national coach,” added Mr Elkin. Mr Donovan said he could not comment yesterday, but the English Karate Governing Body issued a statement. It said: “The governing body had been made aware that a serious allegation had been made against this individual. “In light of advice sought and obtained by the governing body from independent sources, he was excluded from the national squad pending the outcome of any criminal proceedings.

“We should like to make it clear that the governing body, along with all right-thinking people, abhors any crimes involving force.” The West Australian District Court heard Hopper had met the woman, a university student, outside a Perth nightclub in October on the last day of his Australian holiday. He agreed to walk her to a cab, but then attacked her. The prosecution said Hopper's arguments about his alcohol-diminished mental state rang “a little hollow” given that the woman had cried throughout the ordeal and had begged him to stop.

Marina Georgevic, prosecuting, told the Perth court: “This wasn't some subliminal social gesture.” Defence lawyer Max Crispe asked Chief Judge Kevin Hammond to consider Hopper's youth, his remorse, his IQ of 77 and his sporting future as a member of the British karate team when he sentenced him.

“I think his sporting prowess is a matter of some significance,” Mr Crispe told the court. But the judge said: “The offender was determined to pursue his goals, even though it must have been absolutely, abundantly clear to him that the complainant was resisting his attack.” He added Hopper would have faced a six-year jail sentence had he not entered an early guilty plea and voluntarily returned to Perth for sentencing.

Kungfoolss, Scourge of the theory-based stylists, Most Feared man at Mcdojo.com, and the Preeminent Force in the martial arts political arena

http://forums.delphiforums.com/testing12345703/start

Kungfoolss, Scourge of the theory-based stylists, Most Feared man at Bullshido.com, and the Preeminent Force in the martial arts political arena